Fluid drawing siphon for bottles



Nov. 15, 1966 R O 3,285,478

FLUID DRAWING SIPHON FOR BOTTLES Filed Feb. 7. 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTOR. ALEXANDER M. GORDON Nov. 15, 1966 A. M. GORDON 3,285,478

FLUID DRAWING SIPHON FOR BOTTLES Filed Feb. '7, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENT ALEXANDER M. GOR

United States Patent 3,285,478 FLUID DRAWING SIPHON FOR BOTTLESAlexander M. Gordon, Broward County, Fla., assignor to Sun Industries,Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Feb. 7, H64, Ser. No.343,382 14 Claims. (Cl. 222-416) My invention relates to a new and novelmeans of removing liquid from containers such as jugs, bottles, cans,drums, tanks, etc., also from open sumps, pools and other bodies ofliquids, by methods of pumping and siphoning and also removing liquidsfrom closed containers by methods of forcing compressed air in oneaperture with the liquid being forced out through a secondary apertureat a suitable location.

While the foregoing methods of removing liquids are not new or novelbeing known to the arts and used for many years, the part of myinvention that is new and novel is the low residue intake foot used incombination which previously aforementioned methods of removing liquidsand its new applications thereto.

A principal object of my invention is to provide a means of removingalmost every vestige of liquid from a container, sump or pool of liquidin combination with the aforementioned conventional methods of pumping,siphoning, forcing, etc.

Another object of my invention is to provide a means of attaching two ormore suction inlets or hoses to one main section inlet or hose bymethods of a suitable conventional manifold not shown in drawings withaforesaid multiple suction inlets located at different location anddifferent liquid levels if so desired.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a means of removingalmost every vestige of liquid from a jug, bottle, can, drum, tank,sump, pool or body of liquid Where the bottom of jug, bottle, can, etc.has an irregular surface, a curved surface or a surface with an inclinedplane instead of horizontal.

My invention of the low residual intake foot has no relation to theconventional foot valve or check valve that is well known to the arts,neither does it replace nor supplement said foot valve or check valve.My invention can be used either with or without said foot valve or checkvalve as desired.

To illustrate my point that a conventional foot valve or check valve hasno relation to my invention, I take the liberty of defining the functionand purpose of the conventional foot valve or check valve versus thefunction and purpose of my invention the low residual intake foot.

One purpose of the conventional foot valve or suc tion valve when usedin combination with a non-positive displacement pump such as acentrifugal pump is to aid in maintaining a predetermined liquid levelat the intake point when said pump is shut down, the check valve or footvalve closing automatically from the weight of the liquid in the suctionhose.

Another function of the conventional foot valve or I check valve is toprevent loss of prime when said centrifugal pump is shut down at anyliquid level while the suction opening is still submerged in the liquid,or to prevent loss of prime when the liquid level reaches below the topof suction opening and permitting air to enter the suction hose.

In case of a positive displacement type of pump such asa piston typepump the function or purpose of the conventional foot valve or checkvalve is not so important 'in preventing loss of prime or suction due toair entering the suction tube when liquid level reaches a point belowthe top of the suction inlet as when liquid level rises high enoughagain to entirely submerge the suctionopening, a

. 3,285,478 Patented Nov. 15, 1966 ice suction or prime will again beautomatically restored due to the very nature and inherentcharacteristics of a posi tive displacement'pump such as a piston typepump. A conventional foot valve or check valve, however, has animportant function in connection with a positive displacement pump suchas a piston type pump where it is desired to maintain a certain criticalliquid level when pump is shut down automatically or otherwise. Withouta conventional foot valve or check valve when the liquid level reached acertain critical point and the pump was shut down, the critical liquidlevel would be changed and rise higher because of the reverse or outwardflow of liquid in the suction line, thus starting the cycle over again.

From the foregoing it will be readily observed that regardless of thetype of pump, or siphon used and re gardless of Whether a conventionalfoot valve or check valve is used in combination or not, it is notpossible to remove any more liquid after the liquid level has lowered toa point where it is below the top of the suction inlet or aperture,because air will then enter the suction line and stop all pumping actionuntil the liquid level has raised above the top part of the suctioninlet or aperture or high enough to prevent air entering the suctioninlet or aperture, when pumping action will again resume. The foregoingaction results in a relatively considerable amount of liquid to remainon the bottom of the sump, tank, container, etc. regardless of the factof whether the bottom is flat, curved, irregular or inclined from thehorizontal plane.

With the use of my invention which will be fully explained in detailhereinafter: almost every vestige of liquid will be removed because of aprotective floating membrane entirely surrounding the intake foot, saidfloating membrane automatically sealing off any possibility of airentering the suction line by that portion of the membrane effectivelyhugging around any portion of the bottom that should be above the liquidlevel such as a curved surface, irregular surface, inclined plane oreven a flat surface, while another portion of the membrane still floatson a liquid level where this liquid level exists, permitting acontinuous pumping or siphoning action until the entire circumferentialportion of the membrane is resting on the bottom at all pointsregardless if the surface of the bottom is flat, irregular, curved orinclined from the horizontal, forming a continuous seal from airentering the suction line. When liquid again enters the outside area ofthe membrane, say at the lowest point ofthe circumferential area, thebuoyancy of the membrane will cause it to float on top of the liquidwithout breaking the air seal' permitting pumping action again to resumeuntil the cycle has been repeated.

To further explain an object of. my invention, its value and usesthereof, and which is not illustrated in drawings; picture a buildingexcavation going on simultaneously at 3 different depths or levels witha suitable sump located at each level calling the sumps, A, Band C. Withthe use-of my invention, the low residual intake foot, a suction hose islaid to each of the three sumps, A, Band C, the upper or opposite endsfrom suction inlet of these 3 suction hoses are connected to .one mainsuction hose by means of a suitable conventional manifold, and fromthere to the suction inlet of one suitable conventional pump. When thewater in sump A has been completely removed the suction foot willautomatically form a seal to prevent any possibility of air entering thesuction line and thereby permitting suction lines B and C to continuepumping action. With this pumping action going on in suction lines B andC, a partial vacuum is maintained in suction line A thus enhancing itseffectiveness in maintaining an air seal and continuing this air sealuntil at such time seepage will again bring water into sump A, when thiswater will again cause the membrane u on suction, foot of suction lineIAto float on top of said water starting its floating action at the lowestpoint of the -circumferential area of the membrane, immediatelyrestarting a pumping action in suction line A until all water hasagainbeen removed or cycle has repeated. Such cycles also happening insumps B and C, the frequency of suchcycles depending on respective ratesof seepage in each sump related to pump capacity.

It will be thus noted from the foregoing that with the use of myinvention it is possible to carry on an excavation at'multiple levels,maintaining all levels or depths of the excavation free of watercontinuously with the use of. only one pumpand without the necessity ofhaving a special attendant to start and stop and maintain a multiplicityof pumps with wet working conditions for the works man. A principalobject of myinvention is to provide a means of removing almost allvestige of liquid from bottles, jugs, cans, drums, etc. when they arelying on their side and these said bottles, jugs, cans, drums, etc.having no gravity drain when said bottles, jugs, cans, drums, etc. arelying on their side or in a horizontal position, and where it is notconvenient or practicable or possible to lift or tip said bottles, jugs,cans, drums, etc. to remove almost all vestige of liquid.

As a specific example and object of my invention, I shown in thedrawings a milk dispenser for home refrigerators wherein the originalcontainer such as a bottle or glass jug in which the milk was purchasedis used as the container of the dispenser by attaching my device theretoand layingthe jug on its side on a regular shelf in the refrigerator.One advantage is it saves tall bottles space of which there is a limitedamount in the home type refrigerator. Another advantage is it provides aconvenient means of dispensing milk without lifting or tipping thebottle as it will remove almost all vestige of milk from the jug througha simple faucet arrangement. Another advantage is it saves on milk billsfor the housewife as it enables her to purchase milk more economicallyin the large gallon or half gallon jug instead of the usual quartbottles or paper cartons. Another advantage is the device is so designedso it can be mass produced at very low cost thus paying for itselfquick-1y in milk cost savings. Another advantage is it can be pulledapart and replaced again quickly and without skill for easy cleaning.

Still additional objects, benefits and advantages of this invention willbecome evident from a study of the following detailed .description takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a cross-sectional view of the milk dispenser inserted intoand the nipple attached to a gallon milk jug with the jug lying'on itsside.

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section of a double nipple; the

purpose of this double'nipple being to fit an extremely wide range ofdiameters of necks of milk jugs. More information on this nipple will begiven in later paragraphs FIGURE Sis a front view of a different versionof the :dispenser, specifically to dispense thick or viscous liquidssuch as oils or syrups of which more will be told later.

FIGURE 4 shows a plan view (upper) and cross section view (lower) of thelow residual intake foot. In the lower view (cross section) it shows theposition of the membrane in a retracted or floating position which themembrane assumes when the entire intake foot is submerged in a liquidand which more details will be .given later. I

FIGURE 5 shows the membrane of the intake foot in a sealing positionwhich is the position the membrane assumes when there is little or noliquid left on the bottom 10f jug and of which more details will begiven later.

,To go back to FIGURE 1: 1 is a gallon milk jug lying Ion its side'. 2is a stretchable rubber nipple. 3 is an elasticO ring which is attachedto and part of the nipple 1. The? purpose of this 0 ring 3 is to form asturdy and firm support for the entire dispenser assembly by lockingbehind the lip of the neck of the milk jug and also forming an airtightseal.

4 is a thickened portion of the nipple 2 with two holes running throughit, the sole purpose of the thickened portion being to form a sturdy andair tight support for the tubes passing through. This thickened portionis attached to and is part of the nipple 2.

5 is a hollow air inlet tube which purpose is to admit air into the jug1 to displace the liquid as it is withdrawn, thus preventing the formingof a vacuum in jug 1. 6 is the outlet hollow tube for the removal ofliquid. 7 is a flexible tubing extending below the bottom of jug 1. 8 isa pinch or clamp type spring loaded shut-01f to stop flow of liquid. Asan example an ordinary spring loaded type clothes pin would probablyserve this purpose.

I 9 is a flexible suction tubing with the upper end attached to outlettubing 6.

10 is an internal air inlet tubing; its purpose being to permit theinlet air to expel at the top of the jug 1. This internal air inlet tube10 is not required with ordinary liquids such as milk or water, but withthick or viscous liquids such as oil or syrup. The air bubbles from arrinlet 5 travel slowly or sometimes not at all through the thick orviscous liquids such as oil or syrup and thus affect the entireoperation of the dispenser. By adding tube 10 the air does not have tomake its way through the thick or viscous liquids such as oil or syrupand operation of the dispenser is much improved.

11 is the circular membrane that attaches to the entire circumference offlange 12. 13 is one of 3 spacer legs the other 2 spacer legs not shown,the purpose being to raise the flange 12 to a suflicient height so thevolume or area of the liquid inlet will be as great or greater than theinternal diameter of suction tube 9, thus permitting the suction tube 9to operate at its full capacity when "intake foot is totally submerged.14 is a buoyant section of membrane 11, these buoyant sections beingplaced at regular intervals entirely around the circumference of themembrane 11 and forming a part of the membrane thereof.

Membrane 11, flange 12, spacer leg 13 and buoyant section 14 form theessential components of the low residual intake foot with the membrane11 with its buoyant sections 14 being the working or moving part of thelow residual intake foot.

Built into this membrane are a number of special properties, suchproperties being weight, buoyancy, extreme flexibility and elasticity.

Operation of the liquid dispenser Referring to FIGURE 1 again, startingwith the jug 1 full of milk and lying on its side as shown in FIGURE 1,and with membrane 11 in a retracted position because of its buoyancy asshown in cross-section view of FIG- URE 4, clamp 8 is releasedpermitting flow of milk out of flexible tube 7. As liquid level lowersin jug 1, the liquid is replaced by air entering tube 5. Liquid flow atthis point is by gravity action and remains at gravity action untilliquid level reaches top of tube 6 whereupon siphon action automaticallytakes over and continues until jug 1 is exhaused of liquid.

At a point where liquid level goes below flange 12 in FIGURE 1, if jug 1is cylindrical in shape, membrane 11 would rest its edges on the curvedsurfaces with the sections of the membrane at right angles to the curvedsurface still floating on top of the milk and will continue to do sountil almost every vestige of milk is sucked up under membrane 11, whenthe entire circumference of membrane 11 will rest on the curved bottomof jug 1, and form a seal along the irregular or curved surface.

FIGURE 2 showsa double nipple, the purpose being to have one nipple tofit an extremely wide range of diamand 15 are positioned in such amanner that one will not interference with the 5. other, as for examplewhen ring is in use around the neck of a bottle, 0 ring 3 is outside andout of the way. Conversely when 0 ring 3 is in use around the neck of abottle, 0 ring 15 is inside the neck of the same bottle out of the way.

FIGURE 3 is a front view of a liquid dispenser attached to the neck ofjug 1 and with a cross-section view of the suction tube 9 inside of thejug 1.

2 is the nipple over the neck of jug 1. 17 is the liquid outlet ordischarge tube. 18 is the air inlet tube by which compressed air isforced into jug 1. At 19 is located a conventional air check valve withair outlet in direction of tube 13. 19 is a conventional syringe bulb.21 is a conventional air check valve with air inlet at outer end ofsyringe 21. Details of air check valves are not shown as these devicesare well known to the arts. The purpose of the air check valves 19 and21 in combination with syringe bulb 20 is to form a conventional fingeroperated air compressor.

Operation of the liquid dispenser. in shown in FIG- URE 3.

With jug 1 filled with liquid, syringe bulb 20 is compressed with thefingers. As air check valve 21 automatically closes with thiscompressing action, air is forced through check valve 19 which remainsopen during the action of compressing syringe bulb 20. Air forced outthrough check valve 19 passes inwardly through tube 18 into jug 1. Whensyringe bulb 20 is released its natural elasticity causes it to resumeits former oval shape bringing air again into syringe bulb 20 throughcheck valve 21. During the aforesaid action air check valve 19 remainsclosed and air check valve 21 opens due to their respective positioningand direction of operation.

Repeated flexing cycles of syringe bulb 20 will cause the air in jug 1to cause enough air pressure in jug 1 to force liquid up through suctiontube 9 and into discharge tube 17 and outwardly. Although not shown inFIG. 3, the low residual intake foot as illustrated in plan andcross-section view of FIGURE 4 and also side view of FIGURE 5, said lowresidue intake foot is attached to lower end of suction tube .9 andfunctions as heretofore described with the exception that in this casethere is no suction action in tube 9 even though liquid flows upwardlythrough it. The reason is that the air pressure in jug 1 is causing theupward flow of liquid in tube 9. Using FIGURE 5 for the suction foot andassuming said suction foot is attached to bottom of tube 9 inside of ing1 in FIGURE 3, when liquid level in jug 1 goes below flange 12 themembrane 11 no longer retains its extreme retracted position whensubmerged as shown in FIGURE 4. Instead the membrane 11 floats on top ofthe liquid as the liquid level continues to low-er. Should any portionof the circumferential area of membrane 11 rest on any protrubance onbottom of jug 1, such as a curve in the surface, a projection in thesurface or the upper portion of an inclined plane while liquid levelcontinues to lower, the circumferential edge of membrane 11 will followaround the aforementioned configuration, sealing off that area while thelower edges of membrane 11 continue to float on top of any remainingliquid until liquid is all removed.

The preceding operational explanation illustrates the fact that the lowresidual intake foot functions equally well either with a suction forceoperating against the inner portion or walls of the membrane 11, orinstead with a pressure operating against the outer portion or walls ofmembrane 11. This is important as for an example a dispenser arrangementas shown in FIGURE 3 may be desired or required where the liquid handledis of a heavy or viscous nature in such a degree that a gravity or pumpor siphon method would not operate satisfactorily, or where it isdesired or required to place the liquid container at a distance belowthe discharge point.

I do not restrict the low residue intake foot to the specific detailedconstruction as shown in FIGURE 4 and FIGURE 5, as from the experimentsand various models I have constructed, I have found that a number ofvariations from the basic design are desirable. These variationsdepending on nature of liquid to be handled, size of suction foot,configuration of bottom of container and other variable factors. As aspecific example, were the suction hose 9 laid in a horizontal positionon bottom of jug 1 it would be desirable to have the intake end of tube9 and also flange 12 and membrane 11 in a half circle or half moon shapewith the flat portion in contact with the bottom of jug 9 and having acontacting surface on this flat portion of a resilient nature so itforms a seal around any irregularity of surface of bottom of jug 1.

The membrane 11 now being only a half circle extends outwardly in ahorizontal position from the half circle of flange 12 while in aretracted position from being submerged in the liquid. When liquid levelreaches top of half circle flange 12 the half circle membrane 11 willfloat on top of liquid, following its level down until no more liquidremains to enter tube 9 through the under portion of half circlemembrane 11; whereupon said membrane 11 by its own inherent weight andflexibility rests on bottom of jug 9 and following or hugging anyirregularities on bottomof jug 9, thus effecting an air seal.

Applications of the low residue intake foot would be Wide spread fromdispensing liquid from a bottle to pumping out excavations for buildingsor other construction projects, such as excavating for a dam or draininga lake. Neither do I restrict construction details of the membrane 11itself as described herein. One of the many variations of actualconstruction details would be to eliminate the special buoyant sections14 entirely and instead have the entire membrane 11 made of materialsthat would make the said membrane 11 buoyant, flexible and with elasticproperties where such properties are desirable, either uniformlythroughout the membrane 11 or such sections as desired.

In FIGURE 1 I do not restrict the bottle attachment of thedispenser byconstruction details of the nipple 2, 3, and 4. A conventional stopperwith 2 holes through the said stopper, tapered and long enough to fit awide range of neck diameters would also serve as a single taperedstopper of a diameter to fit the smallest bottle neck and by addingsleeves of various thickness of round tapered hollow flexible tubelengths, slipping said lengths over original stopper would form avariation of stopper diameters to fit various size or diameter bottlenecks. These are well known to the arts.

While this invention has been described with particular reference to theconstruction shown in the drawings and while various changes may be madein the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changesshall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as definedby the appended claims.

Having thus completely and fully described the invention, what is nowclaimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. A siphon device adapted for dispensing fluid material from acontainer comprising, a closure means adapted to be detachably connectedto an open end of said container, a first tube means disposed throughsaid closure rneans adapted to provide a vent for said container, 3.second tube means disposed through said closure means adapted to providea discharge passageway for fluid material from said container, and a lowresidual intake foot operably connected to said second tube means, saidfoot including a flange portion and a flexible membrane portion attachedto said flange portion.

2. A siphon device in accordance with claim 1, including a plurality ofspaced legs attached to and depending downwardly from said flangeportion adapted for engagement with a confronting interior surface ofsaid container.

3. A siphon device in accordance with claim 1, wherein said membraneportion comprises a plurality of spaced buoyant sections.

4. A siphon devicein accordance with claim 1, wherein said membraneportion is comprised of an elastomeric material.

5. A siphon device for dispensing fluid material from a container havinga closed end and an open end of the type which is adapted to be disposedon its side in a generally horizontally extending position fordispensing the contents therefrom comprising, a resilient cap having apair of spaced apertures detachably connected adjacent the open end ofsaid container, said cap including a forwardly disposed thickened bodyportion, said apertures disposed in said body portion, a flexible,uninterrupted nipple portion extending rearwardly from said bodyportion, said nipple portion having an integral ring-like means a-daptedfor resilient snap-fastening engagement over the open end of saidcontainer, a first tube means disposed through one of said apertures insaid cap and extending interiorly of said container and adapted toprovide a discharge passageway for fluid material therefrom, a flexibleconduit attached interiorly of said container to one end of said secondtube means, said conduit being bent angularly downwardly toward thebottom of said container and adapted to extend below the surface offluid material to be discharged from said container, another flexibleconduit attached to the other end of said second tube means exteriorlyof said container, and a valve means detachably mounted on said lastmentioned conduit adapted to deform said conduit into closed sealingrelationship for controlling the flow of fluid material from saidcontainer.

6. A siphon device in accordance with claim 1, whereing said closuremeans includes a cap having a forwardly disposed thickened body portion,said apertures disposed in said body portion, a flexible, uninterruptednipple portion extending rearwardly from said body portion, said nippleportion having an integral ring-like means adapted for resilientsnap-fastening engagement over the open end of said container.

7. A siphon device in accordance with claim 6, wherein said ring-likemeans has a greater cross-sectional thickness of said nipple portion.

8. A siphon device in accordance with claim 6, wherein said cap includesa pair of concentrically disposed flexible, nipple portions madeintegral with and extending axially from said body.

9. A siphon device in accordance with claim 6, Wherein each of saidnipple portions includes an integral ringlike portion adapted forresilient snap-fastening engagement over the open end of said container.

10. A siphon device in accordance with claim 9, wherein said cap iscomprised of an elastomeric material.

11. A siphon device in accordance with claim 5, wherein said ring-likemeans has a greater cross-sectional thickness as compared to thecross-sectional thickness of said nipple portion.

12. A siphon device in accordance with claim 5, wherein said capincludes a thickened body, said apertures extending through said body,and a pair of concentrically disposed, flexible, nipple portions madeintegral with and extending axially from said body.

13. A siphon device in accordance with claim 12, wherein each of saidnipple portions includes an integral ring-like portion adapted forresilient snap-fastening engagement over the open end of said container.

14. A siphon device in accordance with claim 13,

' wherein said cap is comprised of an elastomeric material.

References Cited by the'Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 355,467 1/1887Parker 251-7 442,696 12/ 1890 Thompson 222-416 1,053,816 2/1913 Hughes222-416 1,188,267 6/1916 Girshefski 222-464 1,287,046 12/ 1918 Knapp222-416 1,524,833 2/ 1925 McCrackan 215-4 1,752,090 3/1930 Johannssen215-4 2,099,292 11/ 1937 Brown 222-47 8 2,174,354 9/ 1939 Shields222-464 2,377,261 5/ 1945 Norris. 2,662,670 12/ 1953 Voight n 222-4782,740,563 4/ 1956 Jackson 222-464 2,825,495 3/ 8 Fazio 222-47 8 M.HENSON WOOD, JR., Primary Examiner. LOUIS J. DEMBO, Examiner. A. N.KNOWLES, Assistant Examiner.

1. A SIPHON DEVICE ADAPTED FOR DISPENSING FLUID MATERIAL FROM ACONTAINER COMPRISING, A CLOSURE MEANS ADAPTED TO BE DETACHABLY CONNECTEDTO AN OPEN END OF SAID CONTAINER, A FIRST TUBE MEANS DISPOSED THROUGHSAID CLOSURE MEANS ADAPTED TO PROVIDE A VENT FOR SAID CONTAINER, ASECOND TUBE MEANS DISPOSED THROUGH SAID CLOSURE MEANS ADAPTED TO PROVIDEA DISCHARGE PASSAGEWAY FOR FLUID MATERIAL FROM SAID CONTAINER, AND A LOWRESIDUAL INTAKE FOOT OPERABLY CONNECTED TO SAID SECOND TUBE MEANS, SAIDFOOT INCLUDING A FLANGE PORTION AND A FLEXIBLE MEMBRANE PORTION ATTACHEDTO SAID FLANGE PORTION..